Chapter 51 - A Change

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Tindus Castle was another special building that belonged to the Royce family.

The castle was built on a hill hundreds of meters away from Anrola City. The overall architectural style had showcased its calmness. However, the way the Royce family did business could be seen in the construction style of the Royce Manor. Therefore, it would not be too much to say that Tindus Castle was a miniature fortress. There were three gates alone that could weaken the aura from any attackers.

However, as a castle that belonged to the aristocrats, the width of the walls around it could not be compared with that of a fortress. This was an adjustment made after taking into account the daily troops that were stationed at the castle. But the architect who had designed this castle was undoubtedly a very clever person. Nearly two-thirds of the entire Tindus Castle was made up of various defense structures. None of the open spaces inside this castle were wasted. Compared to the Royce Manor, the Tindus Castle was more developed and flawless.

Both of these places had been designed by the same architect.

While it would be difficult to attack from the castle, it was easy to defend from there.

It was just a pity that, originally, there were nearly 1,000 regular troops stationed in the castle, but ever since the old Marquis Perot had become seriously ill and unconscious, the strength in the castle had been continuously reduced. Right now, the number of troops stationed in the Tindus Domain was less than 200. It was difficult to maintain daily maintenance on the defense structures. All of this was due to the actions of Count Mario. Many of the knights who had once belonged to Marquis Perot now belonged to Count Mario. Only a few loyal ones were left.

The stationed troops inside Anrola City would never take part in the struggle for inheritance between these two aristocrats. This was because the troops did not need to show their loyalty to anyone. No matter who had inherited the title, they would still work for the lord. This was something that even the stationed troops at Arthur City would do as well.

This was the reason why Count Mario had deliberately tried to achieve a sense of righteousness before killing Marquis Perot. Only in this way would his army contain tens of thousands of people.

On the other hand, Drouin was a bit different.

There was no doubt that he was the best son. However, he was not qualified to be the lord of the domain.

It was for this reason that Sean did not want to get involved in this struggle for inheritance between the two men. It was too difficult to support Drouin unless it was possible to directly cut off Count Mario’s left and right arms or even force him into a dead end. Drouin was already greatly defeated by Count Mario. Even though Drouin had high-level strength, it did not give him any advantages.

Sean didn’t care about who would win or who would lose in their battle for the inheritance. Either way, he was bound to receive his reward of 10,000 continental gold coins. Even without Drouin, there was still Halle. Therefore, after Sean had declined Halle’s invitation, he did not stop at Anrola City for too long. Instead, Sean and Cecilia got into another carriage and left for a nearby village during the night.

“So that means the young man named Sean has left?”

At this moment, in a side hall inside Tindus Castle, Count Mario was asking in a serious tone. He had to raise his voice a little because there was a joyous celebration being held in the main hall next to him. Although the noise from the celebration had obscured his secret talk quite well, their conversation had also become a little more difficult.

After all, Tindus Castle was designed for defending against the enemy in a battle. Therefore, there were not many places for secret conversations.

“Yes.” The magician named Muders nodded. “If it is exactly like the information we have collected in the past, then it is definitely to the credit of this man that Drouin and the others were able to pass through the Starfall Forest… However, we can’t rule out the possibility that they may have used some kind of trick that we don’t know about.”

“Martin, what do you think about this?” Count Mario nodded, then turned to look at the third man who was with them.

“I don’t think they used any tricks.” Martin, the heavily armed knight, thought for a moment, and then said, “The way Old Pete was looking at him was filled with admiration. It is impossible that a veteran like him would randomly display such an expression. Moreover, when I covered them with my murderous aura, that young man and the apprentice magician were not afraid at all. This can at least prove that these two people have experienced a fierce battle of some degree.”

“Since they had the courage to travel through the Starfall Forest, it is impossible for them to be afraid.” Muders whispered, “Also, you didn’t display all of your strength.”

“In such an environment, it was impossible for me to use all my strength.” If Martin had not known Muders’ character, then he would have thought that Muders was trying to frame him.

However, Muders opened his mouth to explain, “Otherwise, I would have created an enemy for Lord Viscount.”

Compared with most magicians who would not take the occasion and atmosphere into consideration at all, knights like Martin and aristocrats like Count Mario had to consider many things. If Martin had used his full strength during that moment, it would have created a real problem. At the very least, just like what Martin had said, Count Mario would have started to wonder if Muders was trying to frame him.

“Martin has a point.” Count Mario nodded and then spoke again, “In that case, it seems like we don’t need to worry about that Sean anymore, right?”

“Judging from everything so far, I don’t think this man named Sean has anything to do with Drouin and the others.” Muders nodded, “Also, from all the information gathered from different places, it seems he is only a mercenary.”

Mercenaries and hired mercenaries were two different concepts.

‘Mercenaries’ referred to an organization that specialized in using money to take care of business. It was one of the largest guild organizations on the entire Miracle Continent and was on a par with the adventurer and pioneer guilds. ‘Hired mercenaries’, on the other hand, referred to a rank one profession.

“In that case, maybe we might be able to hire him as well?” Martin asked.

“A warrior and an apprentice magician. I don’t think their strength can be used.” Muders rejected the proposal. “They may have great potential, but the role they can play in the future during a war is too small. If you were to train them… I think only that apprentice magician would have some value. Her potential isn’t bad.”

“Well, in that case, Muders, find a way to test them out.” Count Mario was silent for a moment before he finally said, “Although Halle is a businessman, he is not a fool. At the very least, he is a lot smarter than Burwell. Even Halle likes this man named Sean. This means that Sean must have some real potential.”

“Yes, my lord.” Muders nodded respectfully.

Right at that moment, there was a knock at the door.

Count Mario nodded. Then, Martin went over to open the door. Standing outside was a knight, who was Martin’s second in command. Currently, he was standing outside the door with a person dressed in servant clothes. Under Martin’s questioning eyes, the servant took out a letter and gave it to Martin.

“This is a letter from the Medusa Business Guild.” The servant’s expression was calm and collected. It was obvious that the servant identity was only a disguise. “Please pass it on to Lord Muders.”

Martin nodded. The servant then quickly left, led by the second-in-command knight. As for Martin, he walked back to Muders and gave him the letter. Such an action had not made Count Mario unhappy. This was because both Martin and Count Mario understood that even though Muders was said to be Count Mario’s assistant, he was, in fact, a person of interest for both Count Mario and Martin. He had come here to help Count Mario inherit the right to be the lord of this domain.

In reality, Muders was a member of the Medusa Business Guild.

After opening the letter and reading it, the gloomy expression that Muders had on his face seemed to grow even darker. This had made the surrounding atmosphere turn a little cold.

After a short moment, Muders finally whispered, “Lord Viscount, it seems that there are going to be some changes in our plans.”

“What is going on?” Count Mario frowned. He was finally able to set up a perfect chess game after a lot of effort was put into. He was just waiting for the final kill after the perfect end. Yet at this moment, his plans were going to change. This naturally made him feel a little depressed.

“The Black Cat Business Guild has taken the Square Tipped Crystals back.” Muders handed the letter to Count Mario. “The dog-headed camp that was quietly set up by our Medusa Business Guild has been destroyed. The Black Cat Business Guild has redeployed its people to retaliate. I’m afraid the Medusa Business Guild will no longer be able to provide you with any external help anymore.”

“Did the Black Cat Business Guild break the rules?” This was the first reaction from Count Mario. “Did they send people with strength at rank four or above?”

“No, they didn’t.” Muders shook his head.

People with high-level class could be found in any of the large-scale business guilds that existed in various kingdoms. The problem was the amount of people they had. However, it was precisely because of the scale and the scope of the business of these guilds that extended across different kingdoms that they would naturally be subject to the treaty balance from the United Continental Business Guild Alliance. People with high-level strength were not allowed to act at will. Very often, they only existed as a strategic deterrent force. They were only allowed to make a move when there was a high-level competition for business.

Just like the Tindus Domain. According to the decision of the United Continental Business Guild League, Tindus Domain was only a rank one area. At most, they could only allow those with a rank three strength to battle. Of course, if the Tindus Domain were to develop and become stronger, then there would be more people with high-level strength. This naturally meant that the level of the Tindus Domain would increase as well. This, in turn, meant that the scale and level of the competition among the business guilds would also be raised accordingly.

This was why the high classed man next to Ron had not made a move.

The balance was a set unchangeable rule.

“What on earth happened?” Count Mario was a little confused.

“We don’t know the specific details either.” Muders shook his head. “But it has now turned into a battle between two business guilds. Burwell is only a business leader here after all. He is not able to get involved in a battle like this. However, I think that for the matter regarding Marquis Perot, we should probably put the plan of killing him on hold. At the very least, we should wait until the battle between the Black Cat Business Guild and my guild is over before making a move.”

Count Mario’s expression was no longer just gloomy.

He had placed a final killer move after a lot of effort. However, due to outside reasons, it now had to be temporarily put on hold. How could he accept this?! But since things had turned out this way, there was nothing else he could do.